Window tinting refers to the application of a thin film of laminate to the glass on a car to make it darker. Many people will choose to do this for different reasons, but a majority of people will do it because they like the way that it looks.
One of the best things about doing window tinting is that it does not make anything dark from the inside, only for people trying to look into the car.
Tints are created with a special film that lets in specific light rays but not others. Depending on the level of tint you have, different levels of light will be visible. Tinting is a bit like wearing sunglasses, except with a tint, you can still see at night.
When you tint, you need to stay within a legal limit. This is different per state, and each state will have laws and regulations around this.
The cost
Tinting the windows on your car can cost anywhere from $50 to $600 for standard and non-reflective tint film. For a more sleek look, such as you will get with ceramic films, metallic films, or other specialty options, you can expect the price range to vary from $100 to $800. So, the cost of tinting will generally be below $1000.
What affects the cost?
The price that you will pay for tinting will depend on a variation of factors, this will include things like the specifics of the car, its make and model, as well as the type of vehicle that you have, is it a hatchback, a sedan, a jeep, a sports car, and so on. You should expect to pay more for a car that has more windows to cover. So, if you owned a minibus, and you wanted all of the windows tinted, expect to pay a significant amount more than you would to tint the windows on your hatchback.
When tinting your car’s windows, it is imperative that you seek out a professional to do the window tint, do not try and do it yourself. Proper application of a window tint is not as easy as you may think. Car modification laws can also be extremely strict in some areas, and so you want to ensure that it is done right the first time, or you could land yourself in some trouble.
Can I DIY tint my car?
You should also avoid doing a DIY window tint because you will get a guarantee from the shop that does the job that they will do it well. Then, if something goes wrong with it then you can simply take it back to get it fixed, which you cannot do with such ease if you DIY it yourself, and it will certainly cost more for a professional to fix a shoddy DIY job, than to fix a professional job that’s gone wrong.
You may also end up paying more window tint costs if you decide to try and do the job yourself. So, just get a professional to do it to avoid the additional DIY costs. Similarly, if you try to do it yourself, and it goes wrong then you are not only dealing with the costs of the materials to initially do the job, but you are also dealing with the costs of having to pay a professional to fix it.
Remember that you get what you pay for, and so sometimes it is better to get a professional to do the job in the first place instead of having to pay extra for them to fix it when it goes wrong.
Vehicle size and tint cost
If you have a small car such as a hatchback, a small smart car, or a small sports car, a full window tint job will probably cost you around the $150 mark, simply because the windows are small and there is less area to cover.
If you have a three-door, two-seat car, then the costs will be minimal as there are fewer windows- only 4 windows to tint. If you have a bigger car such as a van or an SUV then there is more window space, and more windows, and you will have to pay over $500 for this job. If you go for a metallic or colored tint, then this can cost upward of $1,000 on the largest vehicles.
Hence, before you tint, consider your vehicle type and size, and the amount of windows to get an idea of the costs it will take to do the job. A good way to think about this is to compare the price of a window tint on a small three-door hatchback to a window tint on a limousine, which traditionally has tinted windows.
While the hatchback will only cost a couple of hundred dollars at most, the limousine will cost upwards of $1000 due to the amount of window space that needs to be covered.